Delaware

Shooter kills two during crime spree

A man wearing a bulletproof vest killed two people and wounded four others Thursday during a bizarre shooting rampage in Maryland and Delaware before police arrested him, authorities said.

Police said the suspect also stole a car, shot and killed a dog, stole a pit bull, sprayed bullets at a series of homes and cars, and rammed a sport utility vehicle into a chain-link fence during the crime spree.

Delaware State Police Cpl. Jeff Oldham said authorities had determined possible motives for the attacks, but weren’t releasing details. Police said the suspect, Allison L. Norman, 22, did not know any of the victims.

Norman was charged with first-degree murder and handgun violations, officials said.

The attacks started in Laurel, where three men were shot, one fatally. It continued across the border in Maryland as the gunman allegedly fired indiscriminately at cars, homes and pets before being caught while fleeing on foot. Three people were shot in Salisbury, Md., including one who died, Oldham said.

Missouri

Legislature approves Medicaid cuts

Missouri lawmakers passed a bill authorizing the elimination or reduction of Medicaid health coverage for thousands of low-income residents.

The state House on Thursday sent the bill to Gov. Matt Blunt, delivering him a key victory in his budget battle. The state Senate passed the measure last month.

The House vote came the same day a committee was finalizing a roughly $19 billion spending plan that would implement the Medicaid cuts beginning July 1. The House is expected to debate the budget next week.

The budget plan would eliminate health care coverage for more than 100,000 of Missouri’s 1 million Medicaid recipients by tightening eligibility standards; it would end certain services such as dental and podiatry care for many others. It also would require co-payments or premiums for hundreds of thousands of Medicaid enrollees.

Under the House plan, a single parent of two could earn no more than $71 a week to qualify for Medicaid.

Arizona

Border volunteers cleared of allegations

Authorities determined Thursday three volunteers involved in a civilian project to watch the border and report illegal crossers had an illegal immigrant pose for a flippant photograph but did not hold him against his will.

The Mexican man had told sheriff’s deputies he was detained and forced to pose for a picture holding a T-shirt with a mocking slogan. A review of a 15-minute videotape provided by Bryan Barton, one of the three volunteers, showed the T-shirt the man was holding read: “Bryan Barton caught an illegal alien and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.” Barton was wearing an identical shirt.

The volunteers involved in Wednesday’s incident identified themselves as members of the Minuteman Project — a monthlong effort that has people from around the country spread out along a stretch of the Arizona-Mexico border to report undocumented migrants and smugglers.

Minnesota

Gun search delays ceremony at school

A healing ceremony after the deadly shooting rampage on the Red Lake Indian Reservation and the resumption of high school classes were postponed Thursday as the FBI searched for a gun at the school.

“We have uncorroborated intelligence about the possibility of a gun on the premises of Red Lake High School,” FBI spokesman Paul McCabe said.

Thursday evening, officers could be seen walking across the roof of the middle school — which is attached to the high school — looking under roof vents and around security lights.

No gun was found as of Thursday evening, but the search continued into the night, Red Lake Public Safety Director Pat Mills said.

The healing ceremony had been planned for today at the school; it was rescheduled for Monday.

Five students, a teacher and a security guard were killed at the school in a March 21 attack by 16-year-old student Jeff Weise, who then killed himself.